"تاريخ الحرب الكبرى استنادًا إلى وثائق رسمية. الحملة في بلاد الرافدين ١٩١٤-١٩١٨. المجلد IV". [و‎‎٦‎٠] (٥٤٠/١٢٤)

1
PLAN OF ATTACK 91
guns and two 6 -inch howitzers in position on the Jabal Hamrin
about four miles to its north-west. West of the Diyala were :
38th Brigade Group (32 guns) two and a half miles north of
Mansunya ; 40th Brigade Group (26 guns) four miles west
of Dem Abbas ; and the 13th Divisional Reserve (1 squadron
cavalry, 1 cyclist company, 1 infantry battalion and 6 guns)
near Delli Abbas *
General Egerton had planned to carry out his attack in
two phases. In the first phase the enemy would be engaged
along the whole front Qizil Ribat-Suhaniya and both his
flanks would be turned, the left by forcing the passage of the
Diyala above Qizil Ribat and the right by the capture of
Suhaniya and the Sakaltutan pass. The second phase would
consist of an advance on Qara Tepe up both banks of the
Narin river.
General Thomson, commanding 14th Division, had directed
the 35th Brigade Group to secure, during the night 2nd/3rd,
the Diyala left bank from close below Qizil Ribat to near
Tawila ; and the 37th Brigade Group to force a crossing over
the Diyala above Qizil Ribat before 5.30 a.m.f on the 3rd, its
right being covered by Bicharakoff’s Russians who would
advance to about Kishuk. During the early hours of the 3rd,
in order to assist the 37th Brigade Group, the 35th Brigade
Group was to act vigorously all along its front and its patrols
were, if possible, to secure footings on the Diyala right bank.
After crossing the Diyala, the 37th Brigade Group would
secure Tel Baradan and Tel Ahmadia; and as soon as the
latter locality had been captured, the 35th Brigade Group
was to advance towards Qara Tepe, its left on the eastern
bank of the Narin, in close touch with the troops of the 13th
Division issuing from the Sakaltutan pass.
General Cayley, commanding 13th Division, had arranged
that the 38th Brigade Group, after establishing itself during
the night 2nd/3rd on a three-mile east and west line with its
right on the Diyala about a mile south of Abu Zenabil, should
advance at 5.30 a.m. towards Suhaniya and the Sakaltutan
pass ; while the 40th Brigade Group, reaching a point five
miles west of Suhaniya by 4 a.m. on the 3rd, was then to
advance north-north-eastward to cut off the enemy in the
Suhaniya position and to gain the Sakaltutan Pass. Then,
* Each brigade group consisted of an infantry brigade with field artillery,
engineers and pioneers, while some of the groups had also heavy or mountain
artillery, Stokes’ mortars, cavalry, armoured cars and a bridging train detach
ment.
f Sunrise was about 6.40 a.m.